Showmance

I always love a book that weaves in music somehow, and that’s what first drew me to Showmance by Chad Beguelin. Noah Adams has just had his Broadway debut… but his musical, Stage of Fools, is an immediate flop. He goes back to his small hometown in Illinois to be with his parents after his dad’s heart attack. While there, his local community theater is preparing to put on a production of Stage of Fools, and Noah gets roped into directing it. The guy he hated in high school, Luke, is helping out with the stage production. But is there more to Luke than Noah remembers? Could there be a romance brewing beneath the surface?

Tropes & Narrative Devices:

• (One-sided) enemy to lovers
• Fade to black
• Small town
• First-person POV (Noah)

What I Liked:

• Musicals! I love music in all forms, and musicals have a special place for me. Noah is a musical playwright, and though his Broadway debut didn’t do well, he still has the music in him. I loved the many references to musicals and their songs and watching Noah and his community revamp his musical.
• Noah learns valuable lessons. He’s not always likable at the beginning, but we get to accompany Noah on his journey to some needed self-improvement. He learns how to be less hard on himself and see success instead of just failure. How to listen to others, even if they’re “less qualified” or “lowbrow” or just not the Broadway set he’s used to. Ways to improve his musical by stripping away the pretentious fluff and giving it heart. How to be less of a jerk and be kind to others. Where to recognize love even when it’s not said in words.
• Luke! The way Noah first described Luke, I wasn’t so sure I’d want him to be the love interest. But he won me over very quickly! Noah may have been wrong about some things, and Luke is so sweet.
• Noah’s mom! What a fun and wacky woman. I love her.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Noah is dating a different character, Chase, for about the first 50% of the book. That’s too long! I wish they had either broken up within the first couple of chapters or that Chase was only Noah’s manager, not his boyfriend. That would have opened up the romance between Noah and Luke to being able to start earlier.

Final Thoughts

Showmance is a romance full of heart. There’s some snark and mean humor from Noah early on, but I love the journey he goes on and how he and Luke eventually get together. This novel is about family and community as much as romantic love.

Special thanks to Penguin Group Penguin Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy Showmance here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Showmance by Chad Beguelin
Audience	Adult
Genre	Contemporary Romance
Setting	Illinois
Number of Pages	336
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	October 1, 2024
Publisher	Penguin Books

Official Summary

“Showmance is ready for the big time….Beguelin crafts a story you never want to end.” —Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants

A down-on-his-luck Broadway playwright is marooned in rural Illinois in this sharply funny queer rom-com

Noah Adams’s career as a playwright is circling the drain, thanks to a scorching review of his first Broadway musical. So when a family emergency sends him back to his Podunk hometown of Plainview, Illinois, he figures he’ll hide out for a bit. But to Noah’s horror, his agent has secretly arranged for him to stage an amateur version of the career-ruining musical at the local community theater.

As if trying to work with a bunch of artless amateurs wasn’t enough, Noah runs into Luke, the jerk from his high school years, everywhere he goes. Luke somehow grew up to be beloved by everyone in town…and undeniably gorgeous. As rehearsals begin, Noah is surprised by his cast’s insights, the warmth of the town he’d dismissed, and the reality of what happened with Luke all those years ago. Just how much has Noah misjudged?